JUPITER, Fla. — It's rare you'll find veterans the likes of Jayson Werth, Adam LaRoche and Ryan Zimmerman making the 1-hour, 45-minute trek from Viera to Jupiter, but today is indeed a rare day for the Nationals because the entire starting lineup is here to face the Marlins. With an off-day yesterday and with the countdown to Opening Day nearing its conclusion, Davey Johnson wants to give these guys as much playing time as possible, so they're all on the road for a change.

Chris Young will be on the mound, making what could be his final appearance in a Nationals uniform. The veteran right-hander, as surely you know by now, has an out-clause in his contract that he's allowed to enact on Sunday. A solid outing today might be enough to convince another club to offer Young a big-league job, and you'd have to think he'd take that opportunity. (You also have to wonder whether the Nats actually wouldn't mind a less-than-perfect start from him, perhaps making the possibility of keeping him at Syracuse more likely.)

No TV or radio today, but I'll have plenty of updates right here, so please check back often…

Natsjack – I would like your thoughts on what you saw from Maya this spring? I am betting we lose Young just like we did Snyder. I just can't see him taking the option of AAA and the bus trips that go with that (not to mention the salary) compared to a major league gig.I am not the expert you or Ghost are but I think Maya makes some sense. He is not young and has had trips to the bigs before as well as his time in Cuba. Yes, he has not performed well but he had a decent year at Syracuse last year and we are talking about the #6 starter, not the opening day pitcher. Garcia is hurt, Perry is still a work in progress, Ohlendorf has not impressed so I think Maya is for now, are number 1 option.

Mark tweeted: "Did the entire #Nats Opening Day lineup actually make the trip to Jupiter today? Yep: http://bit.ly/XZ39Aq"No Mark, I am still hoping Wilson Ramos will be starting at catcher on Opening Day and he stayed back to get hacks in Minor League camp today.

NJ, you mentioned in the last post that TyMo's outfield play has improved greatly this spring. Does that include his arm? If not, that's a problem for any kind of regular RF work. Perhaps Bryce plays right when Werth needs a day off, with TyMo in left.Also, a few of those touting Owings chances despite his lack of experience in the field have said if there's an injury we can always bring Moore back up. But that's not necessarily true. Not every injury leads to a DL stint, opening a spot on the 25 man. Sometimes guys are just dinged up and need a day or two off. I find it hard to believe that Davey would want anyone on his bench who can't play respectably in the field for 1-5 days if needed. The era of a bench spot reserved for a guy who is just a PH ended, thankfully, with the failed Matt Stairs experiment.

Section 222 said… The era of a bench spot reserved for a guy who is just a PH ended, thankfully, with the failed Matt Stairs experiment. March 20, 2013 10:38 AM As I wrote at 9:55AM, "…The problem is the Nats aren't an AL team and don't need a DH unless Rizzo wants to go back to having a designated bat like Matt Stairs (stares)…"

peric said… There is no way Ramis is ready to catch 100 games Ghost. Also Suzuki handles pitchers better due to his greater experience. Ramis gets a year as understudy. March 20, 2013 10:39 AM and Adrian Peterson won't ever run for 1,000 yards again.All I can say Peric is we will see.

Tyler's biggest improvement has been his throwing. I wouldn't have believed it myself but he put one on the bag from down in the RF corner at the foul pole on a line to second the other day.And Wilson is very capable of catching 100 games, although I expect the split to be almost even.Both Stras and Jordan prefer Ramos while Gio has Suzuki. Haren and Det have no preference.

Just a brief reminder:What: Party and video recording of the new Nats Fight Song by the Nats Insiders ChorusWhere: Duffy's Irish Pub, 2016 Vermont Ave NWWhen Sunday, March 24, 1 -3:30 PMFor more info: gyfngpfb@gmail.com

MicheleS said… So.. WHy does Soriano need to go back to the DR to get a tooth looked at? And how could an infected tooth impact the shoulder? The tweets from the Beats are so odd on this. March 20, 2013 11:17 AM If you could see me now you would see me scratching my head. WTH? (What The Heck)

I hate to be a kill joy, but I'm afraid I am…There is a trend lately that bothers me. To me baseball is not about;cowbellssoccer atmosphereor fight songsbaseball is about;knowledge of the game and situationcheering at THE END of the playand respect for the other team.There, I said it.

Ghost, My hunch is that it will be Suzuki. To me Ramos had some holes in his game even before the injury and I think that Suzuki is particularly good in these areas (I am talking about receiving throws from the outfield or even from the cut off man). I wouldn't go as far as Peric and I would never say that I am absolutely sure about anything but I do think that Ramos will be eased back to the no. 1 slot which he will take over eventually.

Faraz Shaikh said… Tcostant, a guy who just picked up the bat full time against a guy whose main focus has been hitting all life? based on stats from ten games, you think Moore will go to AAA and Owings will play for a contender?Me – One think I learned about baseball is that anyone who things that simply the "best player" goes north is just not paying attention. Much more is involved. Options, major league service time, etc.Bottom line, like a lot of you, when I saw Owings signed, I assumed he goes to the minors and gets some regular AB's and maybe would be a September call up. But this guy (Owings) has proved he can flat out hit. He has 200 AB's as pitchers and a full spring and scouts say he appoaches at bats like a hitter (instead of a hitting pitcher).It's really a no brainer. It looks like Owings can hit in a bench role, if he does Rizzo looks real smart. Moreover, Moore goes back to AAA and gets regular AB's while not accuring major league service time. If Owings hits, Rizzo looks like real smart, if not Moore comes back up but with plenty of AB's on his 2013 resume.People need to look deeper, Moore is just going to minors in this senerio, not getting relaese. If Owing and Moore both hit; Rizzo might be able to turn Owings into a midsummer prospect and simply bring back Moore then.Don't be surprised when this happens. This kind of stuff happens in baseball – all the time.

Re: Moore and Owings — I submitted the following on the last post before realizing Mark had moved on. But it seems the discussion is in the same rut: Moore and Owings are not competing with each other. Owings is competing for a regular job at Syracuse. With Marerro and whatever mattress stuffing they have signed to play the OF up there. I think he's won a spot in the regular lineup, at one position or another. And probably a ticket to DC if Werth or LaRoche gets injured or Moore struggles. Owings' value on the major league roster is only as a RH bat or a backup 1B. If they need a LH bat they'll call up Brown. I don't see Marerro as a likely call-up because (A) I have grave doubts he'll ever be a major league hitter; (B) the same "rationale" exists for leaving him at Syracuse as is claimed for sending Moore down — if he's ever going to be helpful to the major league club, he needs to bat every day. All of the foregoing is subject to Owings continuing to beat the stuffing out of the ball once he gets to Syracuse.

Put me in the camp of expecting Suzuki to start O.D., and our two great catchers to share the duties for at least the first half of the year. NJ, I'm surprised to hear your take on the preferences of our starters for certain catchers. Did they really express that to someone who repeated it to you? I find it shocking, and somewhat unbelievable, that pros like Stras and Znn would ever say they preferred Ramos even if that is how they feel. And yes, Gio has a history with Suzuki, but would he really dis' Ramos by telling people he'd rather pitch to Suzuki? In any event, I think Davey has specifically said that he doesn't believe in a designated catcher for anyone. And I think that's a very good policy. Both of these guys are great and either could go down at any time. No one should get so used to pitching to one catcher that his performance is going to suffer if the other guy is behind the plate.

I like Zukcerman's wishful thinking on Young going to Cuse, but Chris Young has made more than $16M as a pro, so he likely has a few coins to fall back on and is unlikely to accept a role in Cuse when he has a shot at making a MLB rotation sooner than later as a FA.

P.S. Note to Ron in Reston:You noted yesterday that you played at Barcroft Park in the 70s for the Arlington Hawks.I was there playing for your rival Arlington Optimist.Does this mean we can't be friends?(Maybe it's like Carson trying to tell Lincoln jokes: "Still too soon?")

320R2S15 said…I hate to be a kill joy, but I'm afraid I am…There is a trend lately that bothers me. To me baseball is not aboutcowbellssoccer atmosphereor fight songsbaseball is aboutknowledge of the game and situationcheering at THE END of the playand respect for the other team.There, I said it.Those are my favorite parts, too. I sympathize, And those things are greatly appreciated when there's, say, < 5,000 people in the stands. But "baseball" is about whatever it's about. You wouldn't compare a Broadway production of Les Miz to a one-person show at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, it's not fair to either of them. It's apples and Florida.

NatsJack in Florida said… Section 222….and I'm equally suprised that you wouldn't be aware that practically all starting pitchers develope favorites as a receiver.March 20, 2013 12:28 PM NatsJack is correct. Using words like favorite, prefer, and preferences doesn't mean in absolute terms that Davey will do 'set' battery mates because Davey has stated he won't do that, but Davey sure knows his pitcher's preferences and many astute fans learned a lot just from body language and words the pitchers use after a start.

"Owings' value on the major league roster is only as a RH bat or a backup 1B."That's all Moore's value is on the major league roster too. Bernie is the 4th OF, and he needs the playing time when Werth, Span or Harper gets a day off. Thus Moore and Owings would add the same value to the big club. True, Moore has more upside and that needs to be maintained and developed. Playing every day in AAA will do that, sitting on the bench in DC won't.

Cowbells I don't like, and vuvuzelas are a key to hell.Aww, the vuvuzelas (of course we didn't call them that) at Wrigley in my earliest baseball days were my favorite thing. I I liked the "George bell" they rang at Wrigley (or was it Comiskey?) for George Bell's home runs.

I'm sorry but someone asked earlier about Maya.I only saw him 3 times and other than giving up an inherited runner in one gane, he pitched OK.He always came in after the starters had left so I'm not sure how great he was throwing but at least he was throwing strikes.I wouldn't feel comfortable with him in the rotation.

I'm equally suprised that you wouldn't be aware that practically all starting pitchers develope favorites as a receiver.Both Stras and Jordan prefer Ramos while Gio has Suzuki. Haren and Det have no preference.So I guess the Nats are unusual since 3 out of 5 doesn't sound like "practically all" of their starters. Of course, it stands to reason that pitchers would develop favorite catchers and maybe even tell their manager about their preferences, but no, I wasn't aware that it was accepted behavior to express a preference in a way that could get back to the other catcher. But I'm just a fan, and I don't hang around with players, scouts, or coaches. So thanks for educating me.Ghost, it seems to me that telling people you're really happy to be going to a team to be reunited with a favorite catcher is a lot different than proclaiming that you prefer to pitch to one or the other of your team's two catchers in a setting that would allow it to be reported as fact. If you're just an astute fan interpreting body language and post-game comments, then fine. But then it might be better to say "my impression is that Strasburg prefers Ramos" (or that Ramis guy, whoever he is).

It appears that Young won't be stashed in the minors for us after this outing. Question is who, long term, benefits the club more – HRod or Young. Either way we are losing one guy for nothing, or in HRod's case a bag of balls.

"can't read alot into ST radar guns".Really? And why is that? They're often unreliable. Unless you're talking about the ones held in hand by scouts, which I doubt Mark is. He's talking about the stadium gun. Unless he's been in that ballpark watching it all spring, who is he to say that it's Young throwing slow or a gun that's reading slow?

Sect222, you want to hear gushing about a catcher listen to Gio talking about Joe Mauer after the Team USA victory last week. Doubtful Zuk or Ramoose were offended.The other side of things is also when a catcher doesn't want a pitcher.Again, I understand NatsJacks points.

Ghost, I heard that gushing. I'm sure Gio was sincere, just as he is when he gushes about everyone on the team except himself when he pitches well. That's his style, and it's charming. But saying that someone called a fantastic game and that you really love throwing to him is just different that saying, "I prefer that A catch me rather than B." NJ said that Stras and Zim prefer Ramos. If that's just based on them saying nice things about Ramos it doesn't mean a lot. And anyway, that's an impression, not a fact. All I'm saying is that I'm surprised that that they would express a preference among the two catchers to anyone who would repeat it publicly or even in the clubhouse. It can't be good for team chemistry, which is one of the reasons I think Davey doesn't go for personal catchers.

Well, if everyone know the radar guns are off, why not just add how much they're off to the MPH indicated? You know, kinda like a wind-chill-factor. But, no matter. He probably just threw himself right out of Washington today.

222 — no, the umpiring crew from hell was in one of the WBC games — I think it was US vs Dominican. Had not only Angel Hernandez but Laz Diaz and I think Marvin Hudson to boot. Hit the trifecta, only lacking Cowboy Joe West.Gotta say that today's game on top of others makes me want to have Young be the RH long man and 6th starter, if he would possibly take that — BP and 6th starter on a top contender vs rotation starter for a much lesser team. He more likely than not wouldn't take it but maybe at this stage in his career the extra money is less important than the career satisfaction of being on a WS contender with such great team chemistry? I guess we'll see soon enough, but HRod to an AL team along with a blocked decent prospect (Kobernus?) for one of their prospects sounds pretty good.

If Young were the RH long (and he is!) man, that could put Stammen as the "B" squad setup guy.I know, I know, I'm dreaming. But it is a nice fantasy. And frankly, Young would be so much better than any other potential 6th starter we have that it might be worth Rizzo's while to overpay him as a bullpen pitcher to secure that insurance.

Sect222, my instincts told me last year that if Rizzo didn't find a replacement catcher (Suzuki) that Stras was going to blow a gasket as he and Flores weren't on the same page too many times. It started off that way with both Stras and JZim with Zuk but it did get better as they got to know each other so there is certainly a learning process there.While NatsJack probably has inside scoop, I believe NatsJack is correct in just my observations as a favorite/preference not as a concrete must-be because Davey doesn't roll like that but what NatsJack said I agree, its not much more than simply "prefer" or "preference" if they were allowed to choose and vice versa.

No love for Hunter Wendelstedt?222 — no, the umpiring crew from hell was in one of the WBC games — I think it was US vs Dominican. Had not only Angel Hernandez but Laz Diaz and I think Marvin Hudson to boot. Hit the trifecta, only lacking Cowboy Joe West

More from kilgore on the tooth:from Nats Journal:Yesterday, the Nationals’ off day, Soriano traveled to his native Dominican Republic to tend to a minor family issue. He returned to Nationals camp today, and tomorrow he plans to visit the dentist to undergo an operation on an infected wisdom tooth, Johnson said.

MicheleS — Got me, I meant Eric Komatsu. (Those Rule 5 guys with three syllable last names that start with K….).Ghost — you bet, I'm all in with Young as RH long man/6th starter. Especially for the 6th starter part. the thought of plugging Duke, Maya, Perry, or anyone else into the rotation for a few turns does not fill me with eager anticipation. (Rosenbaum might conceivably have been, but he's gone, and Karns doesn't look ready for that this year.) Young there if the unfortunate happens, would make us all feel a lot more comfortable.

This GameDay entry must have been an entertaining play: "Kevin Kouzmanoff singles on a ground ball to catcher Kurt Suzuki."Not a bunt, a "ground ball." Even if it was a swinging bunt, is it really a "ground ball" that anyone would recognize as such if it can't make it further than the catcher?Good times.

Ghost Of Steve M. said… Steady Eddie, are you joining me as my 1st recruit for Young for long-man?If you are, you're in! March 20, 2013 3:32 PM ______________________________+2 and I didn't join you before when you mentioned this a few weeks ago as I still think Chris Young would have to warm to the idea. If he accepts it, at this point, taking the chance of losing your best #6 starter is too great not to put him on the 25 man and make him the long-man and 6th starter.

Ah.. Rabbit, it may take some effort on your part, but try reviewing last year's offensive stats, while you're taking the ST stats seriously. You have some goofy ideas on the Nats' hitting potential, ST or otherwise.

Nats Nation:Can we just KEEP Chris Young and DUMP H. Rod ?!!!Chris Young is more reliable than Zach Duke and can perform 2-4 innings of short relief and be a built-in emergency starter. We cannot let Young get away from us, he's earned a stop IMHO due to his Big League experience and flexibility.Henry cannot locate the strike zone and has absolutely no pitching discipline. Time for the experiment to end.Mark, congrats on your award. WELL DESERVED!Go Nats!

UnkyD said… Henry… You're not making this any easier…. March 20, 2013 4:08 PM ______________________________For all the people who have supported him and his employment with this team, it has to be tough to watch.The last 2 outings are same ole Henry.I've never been on the Henry bandwagon because since the days of watching guys like Benitez and others that throw smoke and don't know where the ball is going is less effective than a Chad Cordero who throws 91 with precision.I would much rather take the latter although I think some that like Henry like NASCAR, lots of speed and a lot of crashes. Give me a 2-0 5 hit shutout win any day of the week and twice on Sundays!

Maui Mo is a +3 for Young. Young made some nice postgame comments of wanting to stay but it came with the "If I don't get any offers to pitch in the Big Leagues for another team".What award did Mark Zuckerman win?

Young made some nice postgame comments of wanting to stay but it came with the "If I don't get any offers to pitch in the Big Leagues for another team".I imagine it will come down on the one hand to how much $ and how clear a role we're offering him, versus what the $ offer is and what team is offering it on the other. I doubt he'd want to go to the Fish, for example. Would anyone, other than a minor leaguer?

A CableFAX Best of the Web blogger award, as originally reposted by Michele above:Chase Hughes‏@chasehughesCSN3m'MVP, MVP' RT @CSNPotter4mCongrats to @ZuckermanCSN on winning the top blogger award at the @CableFAX Best of the Web today.

Reading between the lines it doesn't even seem like the Nats and Young are thinking anything but Syracuse right now and maybe that's a good thing and would only use the Bullpen op if Chris Young was opting out.

Adam Kilgore‏@AdamKilgoreWPChris Young states the obvious: loves being with the Nats, but would take any big league deal over AAA.Amanda Comak‏@acomakChris Young knows 3/24 opt-out date looms. Spoke glowingly of #nats, but acknowledged if there was an MLB opp out there he'd have to listen.Mark Zuckerman‏@ZuckermanCSNChris Young says if he gets offer to pitch in big leagues, he'll take it but #Nats are his top choice if he needs to go to AAA._________________________________________Here's your beat writers on Chris Young. Kilgore says Young "would take ANY big league deal"

Yong is another lefty and they really don't have enough it would be great if he took Lannen's old spot in AAA. Better choice for those future double headers as well. But he's not on the 40-man though ..

Drew said… Young is a righty, unless he's ambidextrous — not that there's anything wrong with it. March 20, 2013 5:16 PM _____________________________Only that Peric was convinced that the Nats would definitely go with 3 leftys in the starting rotation and the #6 man would need to be a lefty.

Drew said… P.S. Note to Ron in Reston:You noted yesterday that you played at Barcroft Park in the 70s for the Arlington Hawks.I was there playing for your rival Arlington Optimist.———————————————Water under the bridge….but man, we hated you guys When (what years) did you play? I think I played B League in 74 and 75 and then A League in 76 and 77. My sister also played for the Hawks, but later in the 70s, probably 79/80 or thereabouts, and then played for Bob Peck.Does this mean we can't be friends?

The Krol PTBNL seems like a good baseball move but the homophobic slur he once made certainly doens't put him in the same high regard on classy people the Nats try to pick up.Last year the Nats picked a player in a lower round who had Tweets using the "n" word but ended in an "a" and not "er" and didn't seem to be a racist rant just more caught up in the urban vernacular in which many rappers and Aftican American's and kids of other color tweet it like it was the word "the" but the Nats wouldn't sign him.If you search that "n" word on Twitter right now you will see it was used 100's of times in the last minute. My guess is they keep that out of trending words as it would probably trend 24/7 https://twitter.com/search/realtime?q=nigga&src=typd

About the time he was graduating high school, he and 3 others were charged with sexual misconduct with a 14 year old girl. Charges were reduced to felony misconduct and sentenced to 2 years probation.He's been a model citizen ever since.

Was at Disney to see the Braves swamp the Pirates. Very sloppy game with five errors, three by the Pirates. But the Brave bats were booming in the 18 to 9 win. It's going to be an interesting year in our division.

I think I was a year or two ahead of you. I'll be 51 this summer, so I think I played B-team ball (8-10) from '71-'73 and played A-League ball at Barcroft in '74 and '75.Did you go to W-L, Yorktown or Wakefield?

Drew–I went to Madison Elementary thru 4th grade when it closed, then Jamestown Elementary for 5th and 6th, Williamsburg Junior High/Intermediate School for 7th and 8th and would have gone to Yorktown, but went to O'Connell, where Dick Bosman was our piching coach my junior and senior year IIRC. I never played organized ball after the Hawks, though I was trying out my sophomore year until I severely sprained my ankle playing pickup basketball.